Designing your Water-Wise vegetable garden – June 5
Water is an issue in our Southern California gardens, this year like so many others.
While many people will continue to debate “which takes more water, a lawn or a vegetable garden?” in today’s world we need vegetable gardens for many other reasons.
Your vegetable garden can yield abundant organic veggies, shade your home with productive fruit trees, provide homes for pollinating insects, sequester CO2, beautify your home, and provide countless hours of satisfaction and contentment … all while making the most of every drop of water. A vegetable garden that is designed for Water Wisdom will certainly save water over a wasteful, evaporative lawn.
On Sunday June 5, I’ll teach how to design for Water Wisdom. I’ll share with you how to select plants which can put up with heat and drought, and still give you great yields and wonderful flavor. We’ll work with hydroscapes, and discuss how to nurture your plants to be less thirsty, and how to build awesome, water-retaining soil.
We’ll check out two versions of flowerpot ollas that you can build yourself. We’ll talk about rainwater harvesting: how to integrate rainwater into your garden, if you collected it this past year, or how to plan for it in future years. And we’ll touch on the use of greywater in a productive landscape.
I’ll share tips on watering and irrigation for water efficiency – but (perhaps as you can already see from this list) watering techniques are really the icing on the cake; the real journey to Water Wisdom is all the other features you integrate into your “garden ecosystem.”
Here’s a taste of what we’ll cover in class: free “Drought-Tolerant Sustainable Gardens” info sheet (pdf)
Class Details
Designing your Water-Wise vegetable garden
Sunday June 5, 1pm-3pm, followed by a garden tour (optional)
site: Community Garden at Holy Nativity, 6700 West 83rd, LA 90045 – classroom 1
Please register online by June 1. (Class is subject to cancellation if there is inadequate enrollment.)
Core values
In each of my Change-Making garden classes, you’ll get much more than simply a prettier garden. That’s because I understand at a very deep level that our Southern California gardens are changing.
Water is a big concern (but gravel and suck-ulent moonscapes don’t address big-picture issues). Bees are in trouble – but what can you do to help? Science now says we must reach zero carbon emissions within 40 years. To cut our carbon emissions, growing local food here in the city becomes hugely important. New studies in soil science show that soil sequestration – capturing CO2 in active, living,organic soil – may be the biggest, most affordable global warming solution that humanity has.
All my classes include Permaculture principles, water consciousness, local seasonality, locally-appropriate plant selection, low-inputs, organics, productive yield, and cultivating a garden ecosystem with a diverse population of soil organisms.
My classes show you how you can be part of real, meaningful solutions – and still have a delightful and beautiful garden!
A little about me
I’m Joanne Poyourow, the principal designer of the Community Garden at Holy Nativity. I also co-designed the Emerson Avenue Community Garden. I have taught landscaping classes at Otis College of Art and Design. For 10 years I have coordinated the community-centric sustainability programs at the Environmental Change-Makers in the Westchester neighborhood of Los Angeles. And each week, I continue to manage the plantings at the Community Garden at Holy Nativity, where we grow fresh organic produce that is donated to local food pantries.
If you need garden design services or installation help, I’m part of a great local team at HomeGrown Gardens.
Class Registration
Please register with a credit card or PayPal.
